Talkify lets you create a talking picture from your own images or one of their colorful creatures. Follow prompts to choose your image, select and size a mouth, and add a recording. After the image processes, download to your computer. No registration required.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Introduce and share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this free site to record a greeting for students when they land on the start page of your blog, wiki, or website. Record online assignment information, share homework assignments, a message from you, and more. Use Talkify to record two different opinions or viewpoints and create a poll for students to share reactions to the opinions. Use Talkify in Math by posing possible solutions to problems and create a class discussion or poll to determine which one is the actual answer. As students are working on projects, create a Talkify image that provides hints and tips for students. Allow students to use Talkify to provide peer assessment to others. Consider using Talkify in conjunction with other assignments such as "What I did this summer vacation..." or "Here is information about me..." Use in any language class to record narratives or translations. Students can create a variety of Talkify recordings over time, which can show their learning of a language over time. The possibilities for this tool are endless. The quick and engaging nature of this tool offers unlimited uses.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from May 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Discover hidden treasures in Google apps and tools to elevate instruction and explore creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking (4C's) skills in refreshing ways for both students and teachers. Use Google beyond powerful searching to help build 21st-century skills. Through the use of simple tools, students develop their 4C's skills. In this session, you will find many examples of using Google tools and will have an opportunity to play with some of these. Come prepared with an already created Google account and an installed Chrome browser and uncover treasures such as Google Cultural Institute, Google Trends, Google Earth Engine, Google Public Data Explorer, Maps/Tour Builder, Ngram Viewer, Google Groups/Hangouts, Google Keep, Google Draw, and more. Participants will: 1. Explore ways to incorporate the 4C's into instruction; 2. Identify Google tools that can be used to develop the 4C's; 3. Explore two or more web-based tools and resources to support the 4C's; and 4. Plan a project that uses a Google tool or app for creativity, communication, collaboration, or critical thinking. This session is appropriate for teachers at the intermediate technology comfort level.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from April 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Untangle the web of differentiation with the help of Tomlinson's model. Explore the pedagogy behind differentiation and find tools to enable you to meet the needs of your students. Learn the definition behind differentiation, find various combinations to differentiate by interest, readiness, and more. Explore technology tools to use to easily differentiate in various content areas. Begin to develop a plan that fits your individual needs.Participants will: 1. Understand the meaning of differentiation; 2. Explore Tomlinson's model of differentiation; 3. Find tools to differentiate in content areas; and 4. Create a plan for differentiation in your classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from April 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Explore three online tools for collaboration with peers and students. Discover the differences between collaboration and group work. Discuss and learn ways to foster collaboration in the classroom. Share with peers the positives of collaboration and strategies for encouraging participants when faced with difficulties. Begin to develop a collaborative activity for your individual needs. Participants will: 1. Understand the difference between collaboration and group work; 2. Compare/Contrast three online tools for collaboration; 3. Explore three online tools for collaboration; and 4. Participate in a collaborative activity. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from April 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Learn to use VoiceThread in your classroom. Need to have students create a project to demonstrate comprehension? Want to allow your class to continue an important conversation after class is dismissed for the day? Can you make formative assessment less foreboding? You can use VoiceThread for all of this and more. Learn to easily add a layer of interaction in your class that increases student engagement. Join us for this session and your students will thank you! Please Note: It would be best to attend this session on a computer. iPad users attending this session should download the VoiceThread app prior to the session. Participants will: 1. Learn basic use of the VoiceThread tool; 2. Explore three different ways to use VoiceThreads in the classroom; and 3. Plan for the use of VoiceThread in the classroom This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Create and play interactive quizzes in three easy steps with Triventy. Set up a game, or choose from the public games available, to begin. Customize public games to your specifications. When ready to play, invite others to play by sharing a link to the game and the access code, or a QR code. Once all players are logged in, select start to play the game. Options for creating games include the length of time to respond, the choice of many different languages, and sharing via Google Classroom.

In the Classroom

Create a Triventy quiz as a tool for checking prior knowledge or making a quick assessment. Have students answer exit questions or see what students remember from the previous day. Use for formative assessment to identify misconceptions that students may have at the start of a unit. ESL/ELL and world language teachers could use this for vocabulary practice and take advantage of the many different language options. Have students create quizzes with characteristics of story characters for classmates to see which character they are most like.

Sedja is a tool for working with PDF documents without having to register for an account. Use Sedja to split, rotate, merge, convert PDF files to Microsoft Word format, and more. Select the task you desire, upload your PDF document, and follow directions. When complete, download the new document with changes. Documents delete automatically from Sedja's servers after three hours.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site to work with PDF files in many ways. If you need just a page or two from a large PDF file, perhaps a worksheet to send home to an absentee student, easily extract it to send. Combine class projects received as individual PDFs to create a complete class book by merging all files. Combine several lessons into one whole unit by merging files. Make combined PDFs available as downloads from your class web page so students "get it all together." Teachers at all grades can use this tool, and older students may find it handy for their own use.

Earn rewards for studying with Termling. This free interactive combines role-playing elements with study activities to assist students in learning vocabulary and terms with flashcards, quizzes, and other study activities. Create your Termling avatar and enroll to start using the site's tools. Earn additional features through gameplay. Once enrolled, use options to find or create your own study sets and invite other members to be Study Buddies. Educators can personalize study sets to assign to students and monitor progress.

In the Classroom

Introduce Termling to your class and demonstrate the different features available. Create study materials for individuals to differentiate learning. Have students set up and share their own study materials. Show students how to read carefully through their classroom notes and underline the most important word or words in a sentence. Then have them leave out the most important words for their flashcards. Learning support teachers might want to have small groups create cards to review together before tests. Have students create flashcard sets as a follow-up activity to "test" classmates on what they "teach" in oral reports.

Quizlet Live is a classroom quiz game for groups created by the makers of Quizlet, reviewed here. Follow directions to create and share a quiz set and assign to student teams. At least six students are needed to create a Quizlet Live game. When students receive the code and log in, they find other team members and begin competing. Accuracy is encouraged over speed, providing a wrong answer will send teams back to start from the beginning of the quiz.

In the Classroom

Use Quizlet Live to introduce new topics or content, or as a review before testing. Quizlet Live would be an excellent tool for the start of the year to help students get to know each other, or use throughout the year to have students work with different students in cooperative learning activities.

Gravit is a vector-based design tool for creating social media covers, websites, postcards, flyers, infographics, and much more. Create your account to view tutorials and begin creating designs. Use Gravit's pre-designed templates or start from a blank layout. The creation tools offer you the opportunity to add images, text, and much more. Create an organization in Gravit to add other users and work as a team to create designs. When finished, save and share your design or download to your computer choosing from available file options. Use Gravit on the web or as a download on your computer. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use Gravit to create an interesting graphic for your Twitter or classroom YouTube account. Allow students to create postcards using Gravit to write and illustrate a message from a character in a novel. Create a flyer (poster) advertising books read, make an infographic showing details from events in history, or challenge students to create a cover for their blog entries using Gravit.

Add comments, links, and questions to online videos with MoocNote. Create a free account, then import any YouTube video or playlist by pasting the URL. Other options include adding videos from DropBox or Google Drive. Return to unfinished videos from where you left off. Notes link back to the appropriate spot in the video and collect in one central spot for easy viewing. Options on the site allow you to create groups to share videos and adjust privacy settings.

In the Classroom

Be sure to view the User manual link for directions about how to use MoocNote. Share YouTube playlists with students using MoocNotes, add questions or additional information for student viewing. Only registered users can access your videos so that each student will need his own account. Another option is to set up a single teacher account and have all the students use the class login to avoid safety concerns. They could add their own information by including their code-name on notes. This tool would be perfect for adding student accountability to the flipped classroom!

Organize and run a scavenger hunt with GooseChase! Sign up for an account to begin creating games. Add your own missions to games or use missions available on the site. Determine point values for completion and optional links or images to provide additional information. Choose to allow participants to submit validation of completion through photos or videos that you can see in real-time. Once your game is set up (using any computer or device with Internet access), invite participants to begin play through a mobile device. Download the free apps for any mobile device through the Google Play Store or iTunes. GooseChase now has free basic plans for teachers where you can have unlimited games and classes and even a team game.

In the Classroom

Use GooseChase in your classroom as part of your project based learning activities. Assign a series of activities to groups for completion. Differentiate projects based on student interest and ability. Use one of the many educational games already in the library to see great examples of how to use GooseChase for any subject area. GooseChase would be an excellent addition to staff meetings. Have participants locate information on websites, textbooks, or throughout your school as part of professional development. Create a GooseChase for students as part of a nature walk outside of your school, ask younger students to find different geometric shapes, or have students draw pictures of main characters in books as part of a GooseChase mission.

LivingTree is an online collaborative tool for teachers, parents, and students. Share messages, photos, files, and more in 41 languages instantly. Create a shared calendar for all members to access and contribute information. Calendars offer the ability for parents and volunteers to easily sign up for events such as conferences and field trips. There are introductory videos, and video guides for teachers, parents, administrators, and organizations. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Use LivingTree to manage and organize any classroom. Maintain a classroom calendar, with automatic reminders, so students can easily find due dates and deadlines for homework and projects. Share information with parents to keep them up to date. Use the discussion feature as a resource for keeping students involved over long holidays or on a snow day.

Although fairly short and simple, this article offers advice to brand new teachers as they begin their first day of school. These practical tips provide common sense information for helping to ease jitters for the new school year and beyond.

In the Classroom

Share with all teachers, not just new teachers, as part of back to school planning and activities. Create your own list of advice for new teachers in your school and district. Share with student teachers as a starting point for discussing how to handle different situations they will face as new teachers.

Study Jam offers engaging instruction and review activities in both math and science. Some sample science topics include plants, human body, the solar system, weather, matter, and more. Math topics include numbers (place value, number lines, estimation), algebra, addition/subtraction, problem solving, and others. Don't miss the "Jams" sure to excite your students to learn new skills in a musical and entertaining manner. Key vocabulary is presented along with a short video explanation of each topic. In addition to the video, there is an option to test your own ability. Each topic can also be printed to use in the classroom and there is a link to related "jams."

In the Classroom

Excite your students with the Jams! Share the Jam videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students sing along and learn more about science and math. Especially younger students will enjoy this feature. Create a link to the site on your classroom website or blog for students to use for review and practice at home. Use the many topics available to differentiate for all students in your classroom. Create learning centers using this site or use it in on individual laptops. Print out the quizzes for students to take as an assessment.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from March 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Have you ever used Google Maps to find directions? Sure you have! However, there are so many more things you can do with it, even in the classroom. Learn how to make lit trips, tour famous buildings, create scavenger hunts using coordinates and so much more. In this session, educators will be taken on a journey through the world of Google Maps. This session is appropriate for teachers at Intermediate to advanced technology levels.

As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: Explore the difference between Google Maps and My Maps; Discover how to make literacy trips in My Maps; Explore Google Map gallery; Create a map; and Plan a way to incorporate maps into an upcoming lesson.

In the Classroom

Understand how to create a Google My Maps and use all the many built-in features of the traditional Google Maps and related map tools and treks to support classroom instruction. Watch this recording together with a few of your teaching colleagues to collect new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from March 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Once upon a time, teachers wanted to make content meaningful and relevant to their students' lives...Come to this TeachersFirst Ok2Ask webinar and see digital storytelling as a formative, summative, and effective way to learn content. Learn how to successfully implement a digital storytelling project in your science, social studies, health, or other content area classes. Choose one of the programs we will feature, and follow a few steps to successful implementation. Make a sample project showing your students what you would like them to achieve. After attending, you will be armed with a sample and resources to to start tomorrow... And all of the teachers who followed the path to digital storytelling experienced success and they and their students lived happily ever after. This session is appropriate for teachers at Intermediate to Advanced technology levels.

As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: Discover ways to integrate digital storytelling into any content area; Understand steps for successful implementation of a digital storytelling project; Review resources for healthy digital citizenship; Explore three web based tools and resources to support digital storytelling; and Plan a project that integrates digital storytelling into science, social studies, or math curriculum.

In the Classroom

Inspire your lessons with new ways to incorporate digital storytelling in your classroom. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

The Open Video Project provides a repository of video clips from many different sources for use by researchers and educators. Choose from various genres or collections to find available videos. Find specific content using search filters to find keyword content, video format, the length of the video, and more. Download videos using the links provided with each video clip.

In the Classroom

Bookmark the Open Video Project as a resource for finding videos on many different classroom topics. Share this site with students for finding clips to include with multimedia projects. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here.

Mindset is the accompanying website to the book of the same name and offers guidance on achieving a growth mindset. Learn about How Mindset Affects Success with specific information for parents, teachers, and coaches. Other links allow you to Test Your Mindset; find out how to Change Your Mindset through four simple steps.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use information from this site to help change negative mindsets and promote growth mindsets. Share ideas with parents through your class website or newsletter. Take one of the four ideas for changing mindsets to use as a focus for a month at a time school-wide. Share information with peers during professional development sessions.

The Four Color Problem is a logic and strategy game. Take turns coloring a portion of the map with another player (the computer). Use only the color highlighted for your turn. Two portions next to each other can't have the same color. The player with the highest area covered wins, continue playing as long as you keep winning.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share The Four Color Problem on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Allow students to play at a math center. Challenge students to see how many levels they can play before losing. Have students share strategies for winning as part of their math journal entries.